Hey guys, I’ve been away from my laptop, phone, and all of my friends and casual acquaintances for the past 24 hours. I didn’t miss anything, did I? Oh right, iPad 2! Now that the cat is finally out of the bag and its official release just over a week away, let’s see what everyone’s saying about the iPad 2:
Specs? Check
In case you missed it, Brad Spirrison gave a thorough rundown of the major improvements found in the second generation iPad, while Phil Hornshaw took the new tech for a test drive and found it fairly impressive, with a minor caveat.
Near the end of Hornshaw’s write-up he notes that those in the market for an iPad who had been waiting will likely find the iPad 2 pushes them into the purchase, while those who weren’t previously wowed will probably remain on the fence.
That sentiment was echoed by other tech writers, particularly over at TechCrunch, where a writer’s roundtable discussion of the iPad 2 inspired equal parts mild appreciation and outright dismissal.
The money quote from that story, and one that you probably won’t see printed on a box anytime soon, has to be “I guess it’s a solid device,” which isn’t exactly the worst thing you can say about a product, but feels rather underwhelming after the grand anticipation of the initial announcement. This could also be due to the fact that a few weeks ago iPad 3 rumors had started to trickle out at nearly the same speed as the iPad 2 rumors.
Missing in action
Or perhaps it’s that several rumored features just never quite materialized in this iPad iteration.
TechCrunch, perhaps as a way of explaining their seeming indifference to the announcement, offered up a short list of things missing from the iPad 2, among them a Retina display and Gorilla Glass.
It’s not a bad list of missing elements, especially given how the things on the list felt inspired by the constant whispered rumors out of every corner. Mashable does a nice job of assessing those rumors, offering up a list that showcases what everyone guessed correctly and incorrectly about the iPad 2.
Enough words I want to see it move!
And then there are those of us who did not get to hold a new iPad 2 in our hands today. We can’t complain about the lack of a Retina display because we don’t even know what the real display looks like, though we’ve read it’s nice!
Luckily a few intrepid writers did manage to capture some video of their time with Apple’s new toy. Engadget posted some brief written impressions and followed them up with a handful of videos, bless their hearts.
While VentureBeat split their coverage about 50/50 words to video, I’m fairly certain you could skip the words and head click right on the video without missing so much as a beat.
What about you, trusted Appolicious readers? Will you be heading out on March 11 to pick up your new iPad 2 or are you staying put, patiently waiting for the iPad 3? Let the wild rumor rumpus begin (again)!
